What is fear?Fear is concern, alarm, suspicion, doubt, skepticism, mistrust and many more. Fear is a natural, powerful human emotion. Fear warns us to the presence of danger or the threat of harm whether that danger is concerning the body or the mind. Fear is formed of two basic reactions to some type of perceived threat or risk. Biochemical is one reaction that I experienced. The response of this reaction is to enter combat or run away, better known as “fight or flight” response. I entered combat, ready to fight, until. I’ll discuss that later. In the book of Psalm chapter 34, David begin the chapter by blessing the Lord at all times. David was in such awe or fear of God that he had to praise Him first and then he shared his experience. David was encompassed by troubles and fears. Psalm 34:4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears. 5 “They looked to Him and were radiant. And their faces were not ashamed.”
Fear is bright and has no shame, yet fear cause people to be ashamed or put to shame. I Samuel 20, David ran away from Saul in fear of his life. David came before a priest and asked for bread and a weapon. Some enemies recognized him and they called him out, so David pretended to be an insane person just to get out of trouble and be dismissed from the king.
Fear has different meanings with various looks, appearances, or faces. David‘s experience was that trust in the Lord and fear of the Lord is the only way of survival. I made a comment earlier that “I was ready to enter combat until”….because I was facing what seemed to be a type of perceived threat and we(mind, body, and soul) had mistrust in this situation. Well, the until is when I heard the Lord speak to me these words two or three times, Let it go. Let me testify that I am a witness and the Lord delivered me that day, because my trust was placed solely in His Word to let it go. David wrote in Psalm 34:7 The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. David had already defeated thousands by the grace of God. He then had this encounter with Saul and lost confidence in God and in the fulfillment of God’s purpose for his life.
I believe many of us are like that. We have many victories, but then face a type of trouble that appears more radiant or bright.
I have heard others say… face your fears. I believe the problem with facing fears and troubles is that you may continue coming up against the same fear. A person then becomes comfortable with face to face encounters. Who wants to continue facing the same trouble, not me. Let me encourage you as I encourage myself to let’s not face fears, but be delivered from all our fears. Psalm 34:9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!
